Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!ucbvax!cbatt!oucs!galen From: galen@pdp.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Douglas Wade Needham) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Copy protection Message-ID: <540@pdp.cs.OHIOU.EDU> Date: Sat, 18-Apr-87 22:32:05 EST Article-I.D.: pdp.540 Posted: Sat Apr 18 22:32:05 1987 Date-Received: Sun, 19-Apr-87 20:49:46 EST References: <3458@rsch.WISC.EDU> Distribution: comp Organization: Ohio University CS Dept., Athens Lines: 39 Summary: Use tracks with a funny format... In article <3458@rsch.WISC.EDU>, derek@rsch.WISC.EDU (Derek Zahn) writes: > A question: how do people do copy protection on the Amiga? Not too > interested in debating its morality, but I was sort of staring dumbly > at a copy-protected program, and suddenly realized that I had no idea > how it could be done. Obviously it must do something that would foil > a program that just copies every bit of data from disk A to disk B. > > derek > One way to foil a copy program is to write a track in a funny format (Say using GCR encoding, or a funny sector size, or crazy address.) The only restriction is that the root of the disk must be in the standard format for the initial bootstrap, etc. From there on, you use your own driver to read the disk. I think that some version of this is used by EGA for their Artic Fox disks. While I do not feel that companies should copy-protect their software, so that you cannot make your own archive copies, I also feel that software piracy is a problem. One idea I have is for each machine have an ID number in the ROMs, and make it so that a portion of the program must be modified before it would run, and a one only installation program do the modification, and also make the disk copyable at the same time... Would such a scheme work, who knows??? Perhaps the programs could be ordered with the ID number already installed, or the ID be installed at the vendor... Anyway, it is a pain when these copy protected disks go bad and you have no archive, and also a pain when you loose $ from pirated copies. Good job C-A... #include - douglas wade needham (galen@pdp.cs.OHIOU.EDU and after some networking root@vax.ece.OHIOU.EDU...) -- ----S----N----A----R----K----S----&----B----O----O----J----U----M----S---- Douglas Wade Needham (614)593-1567 (work) or (614)597-5969 (Home) Electrical Engineering Dept., Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701 UUCP: ...!cbatt!oucs!galen ** Smart Mailers: galen@pdp.cs.OHIOU.EDU